REVIEW: The Charm, The Fury- The Sick, Dumb & Happy (Album)

The title of the album “The Sick, Dumb & Happy” seems to be quite a subversion of the content it holds. I found the title to be misleading- but I was by no means disappointed. The Charm The Fury come out swinging with an aggressive and visceral record, boasting clear expertise in both the metalcore and metal genres respectively. The Dutch quintet come together and creates something that pushes genre boundaries and forces the listener into a corner with its force-of-nature aggression.

The album’s beginning feels quite weak, with its focus on the band’s metal influence and unfortunately not landing on any charisma or discernable features that set them apart from the other rising acts. Tracks like album opener Down On The Ropes seem to boast impressive musicianship, but don’t seem to give the listener any opportunity to set them apart from other metal acts. However, this all changes very quickly- as Weaponized begins, the band’s metalcore influence shines through and forces a listener’s attention. Impressive unclean and brooding vocals from frontwoman Caroline Westendorp prove that having a female vocalist is nothing like a marketing ploy to The Charm The Fury, and impressive drums on the follow-up No End In Sight courtesy of Mathijs Tieken. The raw nature of these songs let on that this band understand truly that they’re not a force to be reckoned with. These tracks took us by surprise, proving that the band are much more than they let on to be.

The lyrical content seems to be combatting the modern 21st century smartphone age, and clearly taking no prisoners, pressed with the forceful The Future Need Us Not, armed with an earth-shattering riff and the metalcore sensibility any good band in the genre benefits from. The band seem to rectify any mistake they make throughout the rest of the album- any technical mistake they create with any rhythms that are hard to follow being patched up with a riff that could pop out some teeth in a live setting. The album naturally grinds to a standstill when ballad-style slow song Silent War swims into the tracklist. This wonderfully proves their versatility, with an almost blues-style riff over a metal ballad reminiscent of Avenged Sevenfold’s So Far Away.

The Sick, Dumb and Happy is a great piece of work by The Charm The Fury– boasting their impressive riffs and allowing their traditional metal style to bleed through the cracks, this album proves The Charm The Fury to be dedicated to their work, refusing to alter their inspiration for the sake of popularity. This is definitely one for the metalcore kids and metal elitists alike.